In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.
Are you graduating this weekend? Congratulations!
Are you the parent or grandparent of a graduate? Congratulations to you, too.
Let me ask you a question: Does how much you had to go through to get to graduation have any bearing on how happy you are to graduate? To put it another way, if your school is handing you a diploma for simply signing up and showing up to class a few times does that have any meaning for you?
Most likely, the more grief you had to endure to get where you are, the more you appreciate the accomplishment.
In Christ, we have another kind of graduation. On this side of heaven, we call it death. Once we are on the other side, it looks like graduation.
Does that seem strange?
I remember having to take a course that had nothing to do with my major field of interest. It was a requirement. I hated the textbook, I detested the assignments, and I loathed the tests. And when I passed the course do you know what? It wasn’t so bad. In fact, you might say that I “greatly rejoiced” at having completed the course.
Allow me to offer a little advice to graduates and non-graduates alike:
Anything worth doing is going to involve some grief. Even the things you enjoy doing will be marred by the occasional “rough patch.” Don’t worry. This is normal. Life is hard. As Wesley says in “The Princess Bride,” “Anyone who says differently is selling something.”
Should we make it our goal to avoid pain? To a certain extent this is okay, but be careful. Do not become a prisoner of the idea that pain can always be avoided. It can’t. Oftentimes doing what is right might seem hard, maybe even painful. It is funny though. Life has a way of fooling us. What is painful gets better. What seems easy can lead to pain.
A friend of mine once invited me to join a group of people going on a bike ride through our local county park. The trail is hilly and long. I knew that, but I had only walked the trail. I had never ridden it before. He had. So had his other friends. In fact, they had gone through the pain of pushing themselves to ride it many times.
As we started, the first part of the trail was flat and easy. I raced ahead enjoying the ride. Then came the long climb up the Hill of Death. While everyone else rode to the top, I had to stop, catch my breath, and endure the physical and emotional pain of coming in last. What seemed easy wasn’t. What had seemed hard, going out riding often to build up strength, had made the ride easy.
In matters of faith, the same thing is true. Takin the easy way now, each day in this life, leaves us mired in pain on the eternal Hill of Death. While it may seem painful to stay faithful to Jesus, choosing to do the right thing now, the joy that comes at the end is beyond imagination.
Application: Don’t fall into the trap of worshiping the god of Now. Keep your eye on the eternal prize.
Food for Thought: How do we reconcile today’s passage with what Jesus says in Matthew 11: 30, ”For my yoke is easy and my burden is light”?
In the Matthew passage, Jesus was comparing the trials of following Him to the burden of the human made rules of the religious leaders. Jesus called us to Himself (Matthew 11: 28) not to a list of rules that no one could keep. He did not say following Him would be easy. It could cost you your life. Yet, there is pain in any road in life. We all die. Following Jesus and yoking ourselves to Him gives purpose, meaning, freedom and eternal life. Compared to the weight of the human made rules, the burden is light.
Rich,
Thank you for your words today. It is a great answer to a tough question. As I wrote today’s post I found myself struggling to describe the easy/hard thing that is a paradox of this life. Looking at it one way it seems hard. Looking at it another way it seems easy. In the end I think it is confusing because of Satan’s efforts to flood us with false claims. He works hard to make the road to hell seem inviting and easy, and the way to heaven hard and painful. Thank God for our God who has given us His Son, Jesus Christ, as THE means of salvation.
Matthew 11:29, Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Websters Yoke, A wooden bar or frame by which two animals (such as oxen) are joined at the heads or necks for pulling a load in one direction.
Jesus defies the religious leaders by saying that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. He took the 600 plus Mosaic laws, and all of the extras that the “religious professionals” had added in, summed them up into 2 commandments.
Matthew 22:40, 1. Love God, 2. Love people. The yoke of Jesus is for two. Jesus gives us the power to plow this field, Love God, love people.
Very good Ron. Thank you.
I agree, Rich.
Ron’s has added an important perspective on this question. We are not left alone to pull this load. Our Lord does the heavy pulling.
Thank you both, very much!